Author's Note: Wow, I think I got a grand total of 1 review for that last chapter.... (And this chapter is dedicated to Kat1132, who is so very awesome and reviewed. She also told me when Yu Yu Hakusho was on. --hugz-- Thanks, hon. I love you for it!) Please, people, you need to review and motivate me to update every week like I want to. It's not that hard, just click on the pretty purple button and write a little something, just so I know that somebody is reading this.
Chapter 6: The Mission---Dedicated to Kat1132 :-D
Even in summer, the Saturday morning was cold, especially on top of a windy hill. According to the big clock on the pool house wall, it was about 7 A.M. I shivered in the light breeze and pulled the big, fuzzy blanket closer around me. Already, I had been in the water for warm-ups and back out again. This was because it was one of the infamous swim meets held at the community pool, and they started very early. So early, in fact, that the sun had barely risen and everyone was in a pretty foul mood.
I was lying on a lawn chair along with the rest of my team and their grumbling parents (Mine had to work, and my dad only had the time to drop me off and wish me luck.) on one side of the pool, and the opposing team camped on the other. In addition to the main pool, the "Aquatic Center" held a lazy river, a large blue slide, a children's water playground, and two diving boards in the deep end.
Unfortunately, my starting event was one of the first in the meet, and I had to get ready very soon. A few girls on the lawn chairs next to me gasped suddenly and began to chatter incessantly, but I faced away and tried to ignore them.
"Sora?" A voice asked.
I thought it was someone from my relay team, so I mumbled, "I'm almost ready," and grabbed my goggles and swim cap without looking at the speaker. I began to tie my wet hair into a ponytail, but stopped when someone touched my shoulder.
I looked up, and there was Kurama, looking immaculate as usual in jeans and a green T-shirt. His hair wasn't even tousled, and every single red strand was in place. "What are you doing here?" I asked him grumpily, drawing the blanket closer around my goosebump-covered shoulders. It also wouldn't be a tragedy if he missed seeing my ugly, blue, one-piece swimsuit.
Seeing that Kurama was talking to me, the girls around us felt quiet and stared with shock. I wasn't exactly the most popular female on the swim team, and I was certainly not the prettiest. This interaction between ultra-cute boy (Hey, even I admitted he was, and I was his best friend.) and average-looking girl was a major affront to their natural instincts.
"Koenma has need of you," he said shortly, looking over at the still-silent girls pointedly. They knew nothing of Spirit World or my new job as a Spirit Detective. Even after Resari's soul-draining spree a couple weeks earlier, they believed they had just suddenly fallen asleep from extreme fatigue.
"Now?" Kurama nodded and it felt like a stone dropped into my stomach. "I can't go now. I have to swim in the meet, and if I leave, my coach will kill me! Can't it wait?"
"If you wait, we'll have to go instead. I don't want to do your job for you, girl," a voice that could only be Hiei's answered. He was standing behind Kurama, looking rather bored. To his annoyance, he was earning looks from the girls too. I can see why, I thought. With his two-tone hair and piercing red eyes, he's almost cuter than Kurama. Mentally, I shook myself. God, what the hell am I thinking?
Embarrassed by my strange thoughts about Hiei, I stood up and promptly lost the blanket covering me. The fire demon stared, evidently fascinated by my strange attire. I was wet, cold, and bedraggled, and now Hiei was staring at me like I was some kind of zoo animal. To top it all off, the two demons were nice and dry and looked like, well, that they hadn't gotten up extremely early to jump in a pool and do laps. I conveniently forgot that I did swim team by choice and decided to resent their good fortune. I glared first at Hiei and then at Kurama for good measure. Instead of picking up the blanket, I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my waist, and stomped off in search of my coach.
"Oh, she's gonna kill me," I moaned to Kurama as we waited for Koenma to see us in his office. "I don't really think she bought the whole family emergency thing." After explaining the 'situation' to my less-than-thrilled swim team coach, we had gone to my empty house to get some different clothes. Not knowing what to expect, I put on a pair of my favorite flare jeans and a black T-shirt with the Superman 'S' on the front.
"I'm sure everything will be fine," he replied absently, looking at the double doors that led to Koenma's office.
"Hmph," I grunted, feeling rather soggy. My hair, almost black when soaked, was still damp and hung in stringy clumps where I had pushed it behind my ears. I looked at Hiei, and it slapped wetly against my face. He had refused to sit, probably since Kurama and I were squeezed together on the tiny old couch in the waiting area, and there wasn't much room. I had a feeling, though, that he wouldn't have sat with us even if there was room. That was just the kind of person he was. The fire demon was wearing his usual cheery color: black from head to toe, except for the white scarf-thing around his neck. (A/N: I'm not entirely sure what it is, so feel free to correct me :-P)
One of the large double doors creaked as it opened, and we all watched as a blue ogre looked around and beckoned us in.
Once we were all inside his office, Koenma wasted no time in telling me why I had been dragged from my swim meet. "I need you to go to Makai, the Demon World," he began, looking at me from atop his desk, which put him at about my eye level. The two demons were standing like bodyguards behind me, and the blue ogre had disappeared somewhere, mumbling something about files and papers. "Two wolf demon clans are about to sign an important treaty, and we need you to referee. Apparently, they have been warring for around five thousand years, and this treaty could bring peace to their section of Makai."
"But why do you need me to go? Can't you?" I asked.
"Um, well, the two wolf demon clans are distinctly different, since one in one the dominant sex is the males, and the other is female. They are extremely intelligent, but the male clan feels itself threatened by outsiders who are male (since they might take their females), and the females feel threatened by outsiders who are male because they could try to take over. Maki's clan is actually the only female-dominated group in the Makai. So, naturally, you are the only choice, being a girl and having a large amount of Spirit Power." Koenma explained, hopping off his desk and walking around to stand in front of me.
"So, basically," I said, piecing together the information, "The male clan is chauvinist and the female clan is feminist. Why are they fighting, exactly?"
"The female group holds a huge amount of prime hunting land, and the males have been trying to take it from Maki and her clan for a very long time. The treaty will give the males a portion of the land, and they will swear to stop attacking the female wolf clan. So, in the end, everyone comes out happy," Koenma said, making shooing motion with his hands and turning to go somewhere. "If you will excuse me for a few moments, we'll be off in a few minutes."
"Hold on a minute," I said stubbornly, refusing to be ushered out of his office just yet. "'We'll be off?' I thought I was going alone. And, you said that both clans dislike strange guys. Unless you're not a guy." I shuddered at the thought, and I knew Kurama and Hiei were doing the same. I looked around for Koenma, but he seemed to have vanished behind a screen in a corner of the room. Shrugging my shoulders, I turned to the two demons and said, "Let's go."
Interrupting our retreat from Koenma's office, a voice asked, "Do I look like I'm not a guy?" The voice was masculine, one I didn't know but oddly familiar, and I searched for the source. Don't tell me it's.... "Koenma?" I squeaked in surprise at the teenager right behind me. He had longish brown hair that fell into his eyes and was taller than me, but he was, unmistakably, Koenma. Considering that a light-blue pacifier was clenched between his teeth and the word 'Jr.' was inscribed on his forehead, it was not hard to guess who he was.
"I am needed to be witness to the signing of the treaty, and hopefully none of the wolves will try to hurt me. Besides, that's what you're for, right?" He asked me. It seemed he had no trouble talking around the pacifier, and was just as talented at that as he was when he was a toddler.
"This isn't a frickin' bodyguard service," I grumbled, running my hand through my wet hair and huffily walked past Kurama and Hiei out of his office. Realizing I didn't know where I was going, I waited for Koenma, who was talking to the red-eyed fire demon.
"Hiei, I need you to deliver this package to Yusuke, please," the prince of Spirit World said, locking the door to his office after he and the two demons had exited it.
"I am not your messenger boy," Hiei stated, glaring at Koenma.
"Yes, but you're still on probation," Koenma answered, handing him a a white box about the size of a video tape.
"Hn," Hiei grunted, and left abruptly. Kurama said goodbye to me and also left, leaving me with Koenma, whom I didn't know all that well.
"Let's get going, shall we?" Koenma the teenager said, taking my arm and pulling me like a child along behind him.
"So this is the Makai...." I said, looking at the dark trees and darker, cloudy sky.
"Yes, such a pleasant place, isn't it?" Koenma answered, also gazing at the seemingly endless forest. "The meeting for the treaty is supposed to happen in a clearing, west of here."
"Do you know where west is, exactly? 'Cause I don't," I said, worried. "I'm bad with directions."
"That's what a compass is for," Koenma replied, mockingly patient. He reached into his blue tunic and withdrew a small compass. "Just find north – ."
"Quiet," I whispered, moving to stand in front of Koenma, who was staring at me indignantly. "There's something coming this way. I can feel its power." I looked into the woods, searching for the strong being. "What?" The aura had faded entirely. "Where is it?" I looked more frantically for the thing with the malevolent battle aura.
"Koenma! Move!" I yelled, shoving him to the side and into a batch of bushes, and was immediately engaged by a red demon wielding sharp black claws. (He had suppressed his aura and climbed into a tree above us to stealthily attack Koenma. His jumping attack had only been foiled because he let his energy loose a split-second before he lunged at the prince, and I had fortunately detected it.)
I blocked his swiping claws aimed at my face and punched him with a Spirit Energy-enhanced fist to his stomach. He flew backward in a red blur and before he could react, I began to charge up for my new Spirit Energy attack. I gathered my power into my cupped hand and small, glowing purple objects materialized in my grasp. I threw my arm forward and yelled, "Spirit Stars!" Around seven ninja weapons flew from my hand and charged straight for the red demon, who said contemptuously, "You think I can't dodge them?" and stepped aside, out of their path.
I just laughed at him. Confused by my nonchalant demeanor, he looked around. He screamed in horror as the shining violet stars plowed unerringly into his face and chest. He slowly fell and landed on his back, and if he wasn't dead, he definitely wasn't going to be getting up for a long while. The bright weapons returned to my hand and dissolved in a few purple sparkles.
"So that's your weapon. I was wondering," Koenma said, coming out of the bushes and brushing the leaves off his tunic and out of his hair. "Let's get to that meeting before the wolf clans kill each other off, eh?"
Author's Note: Thanks once again to Kat1132 for acutally REVIEWING. ---more hugz--- Maybe if the rest of you deliquents review, I'll dedicate a chapter to you. :-P But you're not really deliquents, I love you all. Just review, ok? Then I'll update sooner!